I'm feeling so uneasy with everything I've been seeing. I keep thinking about what we will be this time next year, and if shit hits the fan, what is your plan? I'm queer and was politically active in 2020, so I would potentially be considered a political enemy.
The only blueprint I can think of is what you do in an active shooter situation; Flee, Hide, Fight.
I know there's that romantic notion of "don't be a coward, get out and protest", but I remember the brutality of the 2020 protests firsthand, and even then I thought "thank god I'm going toe to toe with the CPD and not the CCP". Next time is going to be different. The president now has authority to send drone strikes. Protests and riots don't stand a chance agains missiles and live rounds.
Flee- I have an Uncle in Montreal who my family could potentially use as a way to at least temporarily escape the chaos. The hope I'd have is that Canada and other countries would accept American refugees, however that's not a guarantee.
Hide- If borders are closed, lay low and move away from major cities if possible. If civil war breaks out, try to get away from the violence even if you think your side will win. Todays losers may be tomorrows victors.
Fight- If cellular data/ social media algorithms can keep track of you, and surveillance can make sure there's no movement, this would be the last resort of desperation. I guess if possible try to either find a group for safety in numbers, or conversely go guerrilla as groups of resistance would make easy targets.
The same as if Biden wins. I don't think the office of president is going to meaningfully change my life. It did not the last 8 years either.
Either way we're headed to war, economic troubles, radicalism, etc. Biden and Trump are both stepping stones towards the authoritarian state capitalist system we have been cultivating for decades.
People are going to be fine as long as they do what every person in Latin America did under the military dictatorships supported by the US. Shut up, do your job, and don't make waves.
Don't worry, it can't last forever. These systems have a tendency of falling apart eventually. The next manifestation will be better. Just like WW2 had to happen to bring us our post-60s civil rights era society.
MAGA agenda is gonna happen under Biden too. Biden expanded border wall. Abortion rights are getting dismantled under Biden. Inflation and interest rates are pressing down on working class Americans under Biden - meanwhile corporate profits soar, especially oil companies. Oil companies are making 2-3x higher profits right now than during Trump.
Sure, the rhetoric coming out of white house is going to be more racist, more xenophobic, more anti-gay, etc.
But fundamentally I think the changes this country is going through is much deeper than presidential office. If Biden were a strong leader, maybe he would be able to stem the tide.
But he is not a strong leader. He is the last gasp of air that the establishment neoliberals are desperately trying to maintain. One last attempt to maintain the broken status quo of the great experiment we started under Reagan.
The tipping point has already been reached, a tsunami is coming and people should get ready for that
Massive number of oil and gas drilling approvals check
Virtually no meaningful legislation or policy that improves quality of life or lowers cost of living for working class Americans... check
Trust me. It's not as different as the kool-aid would have you believe. You can't just wave a pride flag around and pretend to be a progressive. I don't buy it.
To the point where it's clear it's a waste of time to list all the things the Biden admin has accomplished or all the good policies they stand for. You would just claim they are not important or didn't happen to the same degree.
But truly I'm happy for you that you are in a position to be able to think only the macro level and ignore all the real positive change because it just doesn't affect you. Congrats.
Infrastructure bill, climate bills (even though he's also given more fossil fuel approvals than Trump and oil companies are making nearly 3x profit under him), OTC birth control... what else?
High inflation & high interest rates & high government spending on war.
I would support a candidate that would
A) reduce cost of living
B) raise wages
C) enact immigration reform
D) stop funding endless war
Right now neither candidate promises any of those items. Those 4 items would make a massive difference to virtually everyone in this country.
I couldn't care less about trans bathrooms. Sure, they deserve respect and equality and all that jazz. But I'm sure they would also like a good paying job and being able to comfortably afford their rent and groceries a lot more than kids being allowed to go to drag shows.
Don't you see how they've successfully managed to trick everyone into accepting these BS culture war issues as some sort of substitution for real meaningful change? They have their boot on your neck and you're happy about it.
We're accelerating downhill, I think there's only a few years left before another big war